Image Details

The Complete Pyramids

A procession of women in white precedes the coffin of Ani, a scribe who worked for a 19th-Dynasty (1295–1186 B.C.) king, in this sheet from the Book of the Dead. Illustrated with lavishly painted vignettes, this funerary text contains about 200 spells to ensure a safe journey to the afterlife. Since many wealthy Egyptians were given Books of the Dead, a large number of the texts have been preserved. The scrolls were either rolled up and fitted into funerary statuettes or incorporated into the linens of mummified bodies. In addition to funeral processions, the vignettes depict funerary rites, scenes from the afterlife and the journey into the underworld.